


i don't wanna take the world for granted (while i'm still trying to understand it)

by akuli



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-21
Updated: 2021-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-26 04:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30100464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akuli/pseuds/akuli
Summary: Ted Nivision and Charlie Slimecicle, on the Void, and learning what it is to live a heroes life.
Relationships: Charlie Dalgleish & Ted Nivison, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	i don't wanna take the world for granted (while i'm still trying to understand it)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lynxleitmotif](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynxleitmotif/gifts).



> Dedicated to EF, who helped greatly upon trying to write Charlie. Sorry he's not as punny in this work, but I hope you still enjoy your boys :) its what you and they deserve

It’s Ted’s birthday, and Charlie is trying not to ruin it with his prophetic bullshit.

He finds Ted by the mountains, wading through a river. There is a bright green stone between his fingers that he tucks away when Charlie offers him the fishing rod. He quickly crafts a wooden platform, and he can see the moment it registers in Ted’s mind what Charlie’s done. His friend's eyes light up, and he pulls a cod from the shallow water, presenting it to Charlie with the simplest joy. Charlie laughs and squeezes his shoulder when he turns away.

Ted is the one to suggest they go to where he’s begun constructing a home. It’s not far, he assures Charlie, although Charlie doesn’t need much convincing - Ted’s one of his favorite people, even if they’ve both been a bit caught up with their own individual lives as of late. Ted guides him through the low-hanging spruce trees and Charlie makes a mistake he only knows is fatal lately by walking towards a clearing on his left.

The line of trees has formed a natural circle around the dirt that’s been uprooted, and Charlie’s curiosity gets the better of him for a second. He looks directly at it, into it, and Existence recoils upon recognizing the oldest enemy. The phantom that has lived inside him for as long as he’s known thought flares up against the charm of the Void, the serenity and chaos it offers to humanity. Charlie’s drowned to death a handful of times, but this feels more suffocating.

“ Charlie? You okay?” Ted calls out from behind him, and he blinks, pushing against the part of the helmet that rests between his eyes up as his friend approaches, “ oh, yeah,” he falls into step with Ted once he crosses what little distance was between them, “ so, about that.”

“ About what?” Charlie’s always been good at playing dumb.

“ I - I meant to talk to you about this, but, uh,” Ted gestures towards the abyss, the expectation in his grin faltering at Charlie’s placid expression, “ it seems you’ve already noticed it?”  
  
“ Yeah, I mean it’s a nice forest,” Charlie says, keeping his eyes stubbornly on the treeline, “ I don't see your house, though, I mean,” he forces his own hand, meeting Ted’s eyes again and hopes he doesn’t notice the way the ends of Charlie’s lips betray him for a moment, “ uh, I mean, where - where is it?“  
  
“ Charlie are you okay?”  
  
“ Are _you_ okay?” it’s laughable, him asking the question to Ted who wears quartz and is decidedly not trembling, “ I mean - I don’t - there’s not too much around here?”  
  
“ Alright,” Ted’s response is as unsure as his eyes, flicking between the cavern and Charlie when he thinks he’s not looking, “ I guess we can just keep going, then,” 

Charlie hums in affirmation, but he looks back at the hollow earth. He knows as soon as his eyes stray from Ted’s retreating form it’s a mistake, but it’s too late by then. He’s looking into the mouth of a monster, one he’s met before and does not know at all, and he can’t breathe. He sees the inevitability of destruction and the death of friends he knows are not, but it’s all so real, and Connor and Wilbur aren’t here, and nobody else knows, and he feels as if he’s going to cry. 

“ Hey - _Charlie_ ,” and then, a dull pain as Ted punches his shoulder and effectively brings him back to reality.

“ Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he falls back into Ted, who looks even more skeptical, “ for sure, for sure, for sure,” Charlie laughs, but it’s not his, it’s nervous and fear he can’t explain, “ yeah, okay, sorry, my bad, my bad,” he doesn’t know why he’s apologizing - if anything, Ted’s concern is more for him than anything else, “ I just had to think for a second - I was just thinking for a second.”

“ Yeah, alright,” Charlie’s shoulders relax as Ted turns him away, in the direction of a river, “ interesting,” he says, quiter, in a way that makes Charlie nervous, but he’s also fairly certain he wasn’t supposed to hear, nor voice aloud. Ted loops one arm around his shoulders and then, with a newfound brightness, asks, “ so, what’ve you been up to, then, Charlie?”

* * *

Ted’s had a good birthday, he really has. Half of these people barley know him and they’re pressing riches into his palms, making him a cake out of what limited resources they have - hell, they  _ sang _ for him. It wasn’t the best rendition he’s ever heard, but what’s to be expected, from a group of people who’s speciality is decidedly not music?By all accounts, he’s had a damn good day.

... except for one thing.

“ I just wanna,” there are going to be crumbs at the bottom of his chest for weeks, but he can’t be bothered to eat any more sugar today, “ make sure, I’m not crazy,” he pauses, and looks towards the snowy tops of the mountains, the direction he ushered Travis away to with a handful of sand an hour ago, “ well, I might be, if someone hears me talking like this but that’s not the point,” he turns his attention to the second chest, depositing the remaining items with less finesse,“ point is, I keep going up to this hole, and I swear to God, Charlie was there, and he - “ he lingers on the fishing rod, the name that hovers just below the fish and a bucket of milk he’s got no idea how got there, “ I swear to God, this hole is real.” 

He descends what slope there is, pushing aside what greenery hangs close to the ground. He stops where the trees open up, close enough to see the dip in the ground, but not yet subjecting himself to the horror for the second time, “ If I’m the only one who can see this hole,” there is a distinct lack of light and Ted steps towards the chasm anyways, “ why is that?” he asks, and nothing and nobody answers, “ why am I the only fuckin’ person on this server - that I know of so far - that can see this fuckin’ hole?”

He moves closer, because he doesn’t really think he has a choice at this point. The vines that spill over the edge are grown from nowhere as far as he can tell, as the grass that always finds a way under the ends of his suit stops, “ It doesn’t look like there’s even a bottom,” Ted can’t hear himself over the rhythmic hum of- _whatever_ that is _,_ “ it’s probably bad I get a feeling there’s something down there, huh.”  
  
“ Fuck it,” Ted tolls up his sleeves, tucking the fabric under itself, a little above where the bend in his elbow starts, “ you only live once,” he says, as if he’s got to convince anyone but himself to do this. He leans back on the square of his heel, sinking into the grass as he propels himself forwards, towards the abyss, “ here we go!” 

Ted’s read quite a bit in his life, and he’s fairly certain now that none of the authors who wrote about Lucifer and jumping off cliffs did not have the experience they detailed on paper. Falling from a great height does not feel like flying, not for a moment - it feels like falling, plain and simple. 

He doesn’t know how, but he ends up on the floor, hands in a claw shape, the pads of his fingers against the grooves of stone. “ What the fuck?” he goes to grasp at his shoulder, but finds no pain, “ where am I?” there is nobody to answer him and he knows it, but he can’t help but to ask anyways, to _hope_ , no matter how ridiculous he knows the notion is, “ what’s that noise?”

  
  


**ꌚꁲꂑꀗꂦꂵꁲꍩꂠꁲꂠꁲꁴꁲ**

“ What the - “ he is suddenly not in control of himself, walking forwards, brushing aside the dangling plants, stepping down slabs that are not, in any way, natural. He finds another section of stone that’s been pulled away at the end of the tunnel, and he smiles for the first time. It reminds him of a wishing well, although he’s never seen one.  
  


**ꋖꍩꈼ ꀰꂦꂑꂠ**

  
“ The Void?”

**ꋰꈼꁅꂑꋊ**

  
  


This is how Ted Nivison becomes the Void’s vessel; his eyes go dark, blank, and the Void offers a hand, wrong, all _wrong_ , and Ted Nivison takes it, stepping up onto the cobble. He does not get to say a word as he gives himself, although, he doesn’t know what he would say if he could. 

* * *

Tonight he should be happy - Minx and Weston invited the whole server to the Nightclub, and it was an objectively fun time, even if one of the hosts ended up getting kicked out and yet another one of Ethan’s creations went up in flame. He should be happy, and he’s not, and when he doesn’t know what to do, he goes to the Void.

The toes of his dress shoes rest on the edge; some of that curious caution has seeped back into his skin from behind around people other than Charlie for the first time in a while. He really needs to apologize to him, if he gets the chance. 

“ _What_ ,” Charlie’s tie has been loosened, tied around his arm instead, and he grabs Ted’s shoulders, pulling him back as he nearly trips into the hole anyways, “ are you _doing_.”

“ Charlie, I can explain - “

“ Ted,” Charlie says, looking right through him, “ step away from the edge.”

“ You told me you couldn’t see it,” the accusation in his words is answered in the way Charlie won’t look at him anymore  
  
“ I lied,” Charlie says with his eyes closed, however brief, “ I lied, and I’m sorry I did,” he opens his eyes and Ted would like to see himself from his perspective right about now, “ right now, I need you to get away from it.”  
  
“ You lied to me,” Ted frees himself from Charlie’s grasp, ignoring the way his arm burns, “ _you lied to me_.”

“ Ted,” he’s never been the subject of Charlie’s remorse before, and he didn’t imagine it to ever go this of all ways, “ we can talk about this later - “

  
“ NO!” Charlie flinches, “ No! You lied to me, Charlie, I’m allowed to be upset!”  
  
“ I agree!” Charlie laughs, but it’s wrong, low and with growing despearton as Ted, refuses his advance once again, “ I’m not saying you can’t be angry at me! I’m just - “ Charlie looks past him, at the chasm, “ I need you to get away from it.”  
  
“ Why should I listen to _anything_ you say?”

Ted’s never been particularly afraid of anything, or at least as he’s grown older, it hasn’t been with such an intensity as when he was younger and fear lived under his bed, in movies he was too young to watch anyways.

He is utterly consumed with it when Charlie launches himself off the edge with him.

Charlie pulls him close to his chest as soon as they collide, a blunt force that knocks the breath from Ted’s lungs despite the lack of actual force. Ted’s never been loud, not the way the rest of them are, but he wants nothing more than to scream right now, because he’s going to die, in this place of a language he doesn’t know _why_ he knows and squid ink and silence.

They’re not falling anymore.

Ted is thankful for the difference in their height, because he can see over Charlie’s shoulder without straining his neck, and they’re just - suspended in the air. Charlie’s breathing is hot and irregular against his neck, “ What the fuck,” Ted exclaims, and scrambles to find purchase on Charlie’s forearm, “ _Charlie_?”

“ We’ll talk about it later,” Charlie says, just as short of breath, finding the corner of Ted’s jaw with his thumb and carefully pressing against it so that he’s looking into Ted’s eyes again, momentary determination meeting absolute fear, “ Ted, the Void chose you. It’s - “ Charlie grimances, looking over his shoulder at the insidious darkness below their dangling feet, “ it’s not happy I’m here.”  
  
“ What am I meant to do about that?” he replies incredulously.  
  
“ I don’t know!” Charlie replies, and Ted thinks he might’ve hit his head on the way down, because Charlie’s silhouetted in the kind of light the sun produces, that hurts his eyes and forces him to look away, “ I don’t know, Ted, but it’s gonna take us both down in a minute.”

“ Charlie I can’t-“

“ Yes you can!” Charlie yells, and it’s right into Ted’s ears, but it’s who renders him speechless; it’s what Charlie says after, words bleeding together, a thought that’s been on his mind for an entire year, and one that probably wasn’t meant to be voiced, even in this moment, judging by how Charlie gasps a little at the end, “ you can, and you will, because you’re my best friend and I’m not going to lose you again.”

Ted’s seen Charlie get angry a handful of times, and this is decidedly not anger, or at least, not fully. There is a fear Ted doesn’t understand in the way Charlie holds him, is willing to _die_ for him. Charlie’s tucked his face into Ted’s face, shame hot and wet against the vein of his neck, and Ted is terrified, because Charlie doesn’t get scared. Charlie laughs at impending doom, threats from villains and heroes alike. Charlie is scared, and asking something of Ted for once, and he won’t refuse him. He doesn’t quite know what to do yet, but if the best he can do is try, he’ll damn well do it.

His vision goes dark as he reaches out for the monster idle beneath them. He goes willingly when it extends an elongated limb in his direction, and he feels something else grasp at his retreating form, although whoever - whatever it is - slips right off the cool fabric of his shirt. He stands in front of the beast of his own making, lifting his chin defiantly, because he’s never been one to go down without a fight.

  
  


**ꁴꌅꐇꂑꀗ꒒ꁲꂑꇒ**

  
  


The Void does not answer, and for twenty-two seconds, Ted doesn’t breathe.

There is a sudden rush of air, the force against their feet nothing less than unkind, and Ted and Charlie are tightly wound around each other. The Void rips them apart when Ted can see emerald again, and it throws them in opposite directions. His head ends up inches from the root of a tree, and there is a dull pain below his ribs, but he laughs anyways. He’s alive, and so is Charlie.

“ Fuck,” Ted wheezes, looking towards Charlie, who is all but a blur a few feet away, “ are you okay?”

“ Mhm,” Charlie replies, although his wordless confirmation is breathy and strained, “ if you could tell your patron to be a little gentler, though - ”  
  
“ Like I can tell death what to do - “

“ - not death,” Charlie reprimands with an odd urgency, “ the Void’s not death.

“ So now we’re definitely talking about that, ” Ted proclaims, rolling over onto his arm, although it doesn’t leave him in nearly as much pain as when he straightens from the back up, “ let’s get back to the ‘cove first, though.”

“ I figured you’d have some questions,” Charlie’s admission is strangely dejected, “ I’m warning you right now, Connor knows a helluva a lot more than I do.”  
  
“ We’ll call him,” Ted asserts, one arm firmly behind Charlie’s back, fitted under his arm, “ he can’t be that busy.”  
  
Charlie smiles, and the way his mouth parts, slow and unhurried, will live in Ted’s memory as the first time he’s ever been unnerved by Charlie, “ I think you’d be surprised, Mr. Nivision.”


End file.
